Grace Wade The heart of a genetically modified pig has been transplanted into a man with heart disease, the second such surgery of its kind “We are once again offering a dying patient a shot at a...
Grace Wade
The heart of a genetically modified pig has been transplanted into a man with heart disease, the second such surgery of its kind
Surgeons have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a human for the second time. The recipient, a 58-year-old man with terminal heart disease, is breathing on his own, and his new heart is functioning without any mechanical support.
“We are once again offering a dying patient a shot at a longer life,”
On 20 September, Bartley Griffith at the University of Maryland and his colleagues performed the surgery on Lawrence Faucette, who was ineligible for a transplant with a human heart due to a pre-existing vascular disease and complications with internal bleeding. The pig heart transplant was the only option for Faucette, who would have otherwise died from heart failure, according to the surgery team.
“We are once again offering a dying patient a shot at a longer life,” said Griffith in a statement. “We are hopeful that he will get home soon to enjoy more time with his wife and the rest of his loving family.”
The first pig-to-human heart transplant occurred in January 2022
The recipient, David Bennett, died two months later, potentially due to a pig virus called porcine cytomegalovirus. As a result, researchers have developed more sensitive tests to screen donor organs for the virus. Hospital officials told the New York Times those tests were done on the pig heart used in Faucette’s operation.
The heart Faucette received came from a pig with 10 genetic modifications that reduce the likelihood of rejection
One of the main concerns with xenotransplantation – the transfer of animal organs to humans – is transplant rejection. This is when the immune system attacks the organ, eventually causing organ failure. The heart Faucette received came from a pig with 10 genetic modifications that reduce the likelihood of rejection. His doctors are also treating him with a novel medication that blocks a protein involved in activating immune responses.
“This transplant is another remarkable achievement for medicine and humanity,” said Bert O’Malley at the University of Maryland in a statement. “We are immensely proud to have taken another significant leap toward a day when people who need a life-saving organ transplant can get one.”
Xenotransplantation is a promising solution to the shortage of donor organs
Nearly 105,000 people in the US are waiting for an organ transplant, and every day 17 of them die, according to the US Health Resources and Services Administration. Researchers in the field are hopeful that the US Food and Drug Administration will approve clinical trials of xenotransplantation within the next few years.
Would you accept an animal's organ/s to be tranplanted to you if you are facing a similar situation? What would a vegan do? What would a practing Jew/Muslim do? Pig is not kosher/halaal. Though an...
Would you accept an animal's organ/s to be tranplanted to you if you are facing a similar situation? What would a vegan do?
What would a practing Jew/Muslim do? Pig is not kosher/halaal. Though an individual has right to accept or reject, should religious values be considered by the individual in a situation like this?
Also the question of genetic modification of the donor animal. It is not a free range farm animal. Would this be a problem even if we keep aside religious/vegan issues?
Good discussion questions! I would accept a xenotransplant without qualms, if I were in the situation described. I'm very interested to hear what vegans would do. The question re: islam is...
Good discussion questions! I would accept a xenotransplant without qualms, if I were in the situation described.
I'm very interested to hear what vegans would do.
The question re: islam is interesting; the Quran has an exemption for those who are forced into (eating, typically) pork by necessity but I think it would probably depend on the individual whether they considered that acceptable.
The genetic modifications are, to my mind, integral to this procedure working in the first place, so I don't consider them a problem. ;)
I would also accept without hesitation if this were the only remaining option, but I'm neither religious nor vegan/vegetarian. From conversations with my vegan and vegetarian friends, as you may...
I would also accept without hesitation if this were the only remaining option, but I'm neither religious nor vegan/vegetarian.
From conversations with my vegan and vegetarian friends, as you may suspect, there's no unified answer. Some are a hard "no", some care about the living conditions of the animal, and some are more concerned with what would have otherwise happened to the organ (e.g. does it usually just get thrown out?). None of them were an unequivocal "yes", though I wouldn't be surprised if there were vegans or vegetarians who were.
I haven't discussed this specific issue with any Muslims or Jews, but my understanding is that this would be allowed, as a "necessity" to survive. Muslims are not required to choose death over eating pork, whether that's at gunpoint or just because it's the only food available, though they should not consume in excess of what they require. I think the Torah is less descriptive, but still seems to come from the point of view of "you shouldn't choose to do this, but you also don't have to die".
To some extent you could reasonably speculate by looking at how vegans approach other aspects of using animals without pressure and with pressure. Would a vegan rather starve to death than eat a...
To some extent you could reasonably speculate by looking at how vegans approach other aspects of using animals without pressure and with pressure. Would a vegan rather starve to death than eat a fish if that were the only option?
Of course there's also a difference between being relatively healthy and starving versus having some physical condition that without marvels of medical improvements, you would ordinarily die from. So I'm not saying it's the same to eat a fish as it is to genetically modify a pig for the purpose of farming its organs to transplant into humans.
I wouldn't see it as anymore of a checkmate vegan than the above though. There's too much emphasis given to extreme viewpoints of vegans and non-vegans to the point where you're calling it out before one even exists. Especially on Tildes, that seems to be giving way too much emphasis, as I haven't seen that kind of extreme vegan or non-vegan perspective as on some other platforms.
I don't mean to discredit your perspective, I only see a portion of the conversations that happen here and it's not like I specifically seek out discussions about vegans. But based on my...
I really need to disengage from vegan topics on Tildes, as I can't help but see disingenuous arguments, even where there may actually be none.
I don't mean to discredit your perspective, I only see a portion of the conversations that happen here and it's not like I specifically seek out discussions about vegans. But based on my experience it seemed more out of place to see you anticipating a negative reaction towards a vegan perspective, but if those things are happening on here then I certainly understand continuing to be jaded even here.
It's not even an issue for Judaism. You're not allowed to eat pig, you can benefit from it in other ways. Additionally, even if it was being eaten, you can do just about anything necessary to save...
It's not even an issue for Judaism. You're not allowed to eat pig, you can benefit from it in other ways. Additionally, even if it was being eaten, you can do just about anything necessary to save your life.
Right now, I'd lean towards no. This seems far too early in research for me to be comfortable accepting a heart from another animal unless it was my only option. Part of my concern isn't just...
Right now, I'd lean towards no. This seems far too early in research for me to be comfortable accepting a heart from another animal unless it was my only option.
Part of my concern isn't just rejection of the organ, but the medication used to prevent rejection. I read years ago that the medications is actually the main indirect cause of recipients dying, since it suppresses their immune systems to prevent rejection and makes them more susceptible to other diseases.
That ties into the first pig heart recipient's fate: he died from a pig virus that came with the heart. They said they've developed more sensitive tests to screen donor organs for the virus, but that raises concerns to me about other viruses that screening might miss. I know there's a lot of research into pigs and animal diseases, but I doubt it's nearly as comprehensive as research into humans. Coupled with medication that suppresses your immune system, it just seems risky to me.
For that reason, in regard to your last question about it not being a free range farm animal... Honestly, I think a free range farm animal would be the worst option from a safety standpoint. Too much risk of exposure to all sorts of viruses and diseases. I think they'll need to carefully breed a strain of pigs specifically for donation purposes and lab environments, to keep them as "pure" as possible. Similar to how lab mice are specially bred.
From an ethical standpoint though... Well, breeding something just to kill it feels wrong, even if it's to save another life. I personally hope we can advance cloning technology enough to replicate healthy organs from cells before pig donor hearts become the norm.
A friend of mine is a post-op vet tech for when they put pig hearts in baboons; both times she's gotten to be a non-sterile runner for the pig's heart removal when it's going in a human. So 6...
A friend of mine is a post-op vet tech for when they put pig hearts in baboons; both times she's gotten to be a non-sterile runner for the pig's heart removal when it's going in a human. So 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, I guess.
There's a couple angles here to chuckle at. Was she involved in the procedures specifically leading to these transplants? I assume they're basically the same/similar pigs? And "non-sterile...
So 6 degrees of Kevin Bac
There's a couple angles here to chuckle at.
Was she involved in the procedures specifically leading to these transplants? I assume they're basically the same/similar pigs?
And "non-sterile runner," as in between sterile environments? That would be a wild day, running a pig heart for a person.
I may be misunderstanding what you're asking, but: She does post-op care for the practice baboons the University of MD surgeons used to get the procedure right before doing it on a human, and she...
I may be misunderstanding what you're asking, but: She does post-op care for the practice baboons the University of MD surgeons used to get the procedure right before doing it on a human, and she was support personnel for the actual surgery to remove the pig's heart for both of the humans who have received pig hearts so far, the guy last year and this current guy. Shes a lab tech at UMD, so she generally works with their research animals.
I actually don't know if she got to handle the heart at all (I kinda think she would've said if she had, but I just messaged her to ask). Her job is setting up/cleaning the surgical room, getting equipment that maybe wasn't set up beforehand but is now necessary, etc. Basically whatever is needed that the sterile team can't do without possible contamination.
Edit with her response: The heart is transported using an XVIVO box but she doesn't handle that part, she runs blood samples and grabs needed items. The pigs are genetically engineered by Revivicor, which was spun out from PPL Therapeutics who made Dolly the 1st cloned sheep, and they are "heckin chonkers". She said the baboons can live several months after the transplants and she's currently caring for 3.
Wow, straight out of sci-fi. I don't think the article said, does the heart need to be tailored to the specific patient? While this is exciting right now I'm really more interested in the long...
Wow, straight out of sci-fi.
I don't think the article said, does the heart need to be tailored to the specific patient?
While this is exciting right now I'm really more interested in the long term questions; will he survive for more than a few months, can we do other organs, what does large scale harvesting look like, will the heart last longer than a pig's lifespan (15 years)?
It will be an interesting next couple of years as they learn more.
Grace Wade
The heart of a genetically modified pig has been transplanted into a man with heart disease, the second such surgery of its kind
“We are once again offering a dying patient a shot at a longer life,”
The first pig-to-human heart transplant occurred in January 2022
The heart Faucette received came from a pig with 10 genetic modifications that reduce the likelihood of rejection
Xenotransplantation is a promising solution to the shortage of donor organs
Would you accept an animal's organ/s to be tranplanted to you if you are facing a similar situation? What would a vegan do?
What would a practing Jew/Muslim do? Pig is not kosher/halaal. Though an individual has right to accept or reject, should religious values be considered by the individual in a situation like this?
Also the question of genetic modification of the donor animal. It is not a free range farm animal. Would this be a problem even if we keep aside religious/vegan issues?
Good discussion questions! I would accept a xenotransplant without qualms, if I were in the situation described.
I'm very interested to hear what vegans would do.
The question re: islam is interesting; the Quran has an exemption for those who are forced into (eating, typically) pork by necessity but I think it would probably depend on the individual whether they considered that acceptable.
The genetic modifications are, to my mind, integral to this procedure working in the first place, so I don't consider them a problem. ;)
I would also accept without hesitation if this were the only remaining option, but I'm neither religious nor vegan/vegetarian.
From conversations with my vegan and vegetarian friends, as you may suspect, there's no unified answer. Some are a hard "no", some care about the living conditions of the animal, and some are more concerned with what would have otherwise happened to the organ (e.g. does it usually just get thrown out?). None of them were an unequivocal "yes", though I wouldn't be surprised if there were vegans or vegetarians who were.
I haven't discussed this specific issue with any Muslims or Jews, but my understanding is that this would be allowed, as a "necessity" to survive. Muslims are not required to choose death over eating pork, whether that's at gunpoint or just because it's the only food available, though they should not consume in excess of what they require. I think the Torah is less descriptive, but still seems to come from the point of view of "you shouldn't choose to do this, but you also don't have to die".
For Judaism, kashrut restrictions are only for eating -- what goes in your mouth. You could use a pork derived moisturizer, for example.
To some extent you could reasonably speculate by looking at how vegans approach other aspects of using animals without pressure and with pressure. Would a vegan rather starve to death than eat a fish if that were the only option?
Of course there's also a difference between being relatively healthy and starving versus having some physical condition that without marvels of medical improvements, you would ordinarily die from. So I'm not saying it's the same to eat a fish as it is to genetically modify a pig for the purpose of farming its organs to transplant into humans.
I wouldn't see it as anymore of a checkmate vegan than the above though. There's too much emphasis given to extreme viewpoints of vegans and non-vegans to the point where you're calling it out before one even exists. Especially on Tildes, that seems to be giving way too much emphasis, as I haven't seen that kind of extreme vegan or non-vegan perspective as on some other platforms.
I don't mean to discredit your perspective, I only see a portion of the conversations that happen here and it's not like I specifically seek out discussions about vegans. But based on my experience it seemed more out of place to see you anticipating a negative reaction towards a vegan perspective, but if those things are happening on here then I certainly understand continuing to be jaded even here.
It's not even an issue for Judaism. You're not allowed to eat pig, you can benefit from it in other ways. Additionally, even if it was being eaten, you can do just about anything necessary to save your life.
Right now, I'd lean towards no. This seems far too early in research for me to be comfortable accepting a heart from another animal unless it was my only option.
Part of my concern isn't just rejection of the organ, but the medication used to prevent rejection. I read years ago that the medications is actually the main indirect cause of recipients dying, since it suppresses their immune systems to prevent rejection and makes them more susceptible to other diseases.
That ties into the first pig heart recipient's fate: he died from a pig virus that came with the heart. They said they've developed more sensitive tests to screen donor organs for the virus, but that raises concerns to me about other viruses that screening might miss. I know there's a lot of research into pigs and animal diseases, but I doubt it's nearly as comprehensive as research into humans. Coupled with medication that suppresses your immune system, it just seems risky to me.
For that reason, in regard to your last question about it not being a free range farm animal... Honestly, I think a free range farm animal would be the worst option from a safety standpoint. Too much risk of exposure to all sorts of viruses and diseases. I think they'll need to carefully breed a strain of pigs specifically for donation purposes and lab environments, to keep them as "pure" as possible. Similar to how lab mice are specially bred.
From an ethical standpoint though... Well, breeding something just to kill it feels wrong, even if it's to save another life. I personally hope we can advance cloning technology enough to replicate healthy organs from cells before pig donor hearts become the norm.
Hopefully this will eventually progress into something like a lab grown heart. I have no idea how feasible that is.
A friend of mine is a post-op vet tech for when they put pig hearts in baboons; both times she's gotten to be a non-sterile runner for the pig's heart removal when it's going in a human. So 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, I guess.
There's a couple angles here to chuckle at.
Was she involved in the procedures specifically leading to these transplants? I assume they're basically the same/similar pigs?
And "non-sterile runner," as in between sterile environments? That would be a wild day, running a pig heart for a person.
I may be misunderstanding what you're asking, but: She does post-op care for the practice baboons the University of MD surgeons used to get the procedure right before doing it on a human, and she was support personnel for the actual surgery to remove the pig's heart for both of the humans who have received pig hearts so far, the guy last year and this current guy. Shes a lab tech at UMD, so she generally works with their research animals.
I actually don't know if she got to handle the heart at all (I kinda think she would've said if she had, but I just messaged her to ask). Her job is setting up/cleaning the surgical room, getting equipment that maybe wasn't set up beforehand but is now necessary, etc. Basically whatever is needed that the sterile team can't do without possible contamination.
Edit with her response: The heart is transported using an XVIVO box but she doesn't handle that part, she runs blood samples and grabs needed items. The pigs are genetically engineered by Revivicor, which was spun out from PPL Therapeutics who made Dolly the 1st cloned sheep, and they are "heckin chonkers". She said the baboons can live several months after the transplants and she's currently caring for 3.
Wow, straight out of sci-fi.
I don't think the article said, does the heart need to be tailored to the specific patient?
While this is exciting right now I'm really more interested in the long term questions; will he survive for more than a few months, can we do other organs, what does large scale harvesting look like, will the heart last longer than a pig's lifespan (15 years)?
It will be an interesting next couple of years as they learn more.